News: Developers Bought 3,093 Acres in 2025: JLL Land Report-22-04-2026

Real estate developers acquired 3,093 acres of land across 149 transactions valued at Rs 54,818 crore in 2025, a 32% year-on-year increase, according to a JLL report. The purchases are expected to yield about 229 million sq. ft. of development over the next two to five years and to open up a financing opportunity estimated at more than Rs 52,500 crore.

Building on these parcels will need total construction capital of over Rs 92,000 crore, of which external financing is projected to exceed Rs 52,000 crore over the medium term, the report said. Meeting this will likely require a mix of bank financing, private equity and institutional capital.

The top seven cities are projected to absorb about 89% of the capital required for construction, reflecting the premium nature of projects planned there and higher building costs in major metros. Delhi NCR and Hyderabad together account for an 18% share of this allocation.

On land acquisition, Tier I cities accounted for 89% of the capital but only 52% of the area bought. Tier II cities received 11% of investment while making up 48% of the area. The report said this shows the higher cost of metro land and the growth opportunity in emerging markets. Tier I covers Mumbai-MMR, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR. Tier II includes Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Aurangabad, Ayodhya, Ballari, Goa, Indore, Lucknow, Mohali, Nagpur, Panchkula, Raipur, Satara and Vadodara. Tier II and III cities saw 1,475 acres acquired during the year, yet account for only 11% of estimated construction costs because projects planned there are less capital-intensive.

Residential development is the main driver. Developers allocated 78% of the acquired land, or 2,398 acres, to housing, with estimated construction cost of Rs 72,000 crore. Housing takes about 76% of the total estimated capital funding requirement. Office development is second, needing over Rs 8,700 crore, or about 10% of construction capital, which the report linked to services sector growth, especially GCCs, and demand for Grade A offices.

Individual landowners were the largest sellers, accounting for 65% of the total area transacted across 62 deals, a sign of fragmented ownership. Their share was highest in Chennai at 93%, and they also led in Mumbai-MMR, Bengaluru and Pune. Corporate entities were the principal sellers in Hyderabad. Delhi-NCR was an outlier, with government bodies the source in 63% of all transactions.

The momentum has carried into 2026, with about 900 acres acquired in Q1 2026 for nearly Rs 18,000 crore. Mumbai’s MMR recorded the country’s largest land deal by value in that quarter, an 11-acre parcel sold for Rs 5,400 crore, or approximately Rs 490 crore per acre.

Lata Pillai, senior managing director and head of capital markets, JLL India, called 2025 a record-breaking year, with developers acquiring approximately 3,000 acres across 20 major cities and investing close to Rs 55,000 crore. With traditional banking channels facing regulatory constraints and changing risk appetites, she said, the external financing requirement of over Rs 52,000 crore offers opportunities for Alternative Investment Funds (AIF) and private credit providers to offer tailored financing across project lifecycles. The report pointed in particular to first-mile acquisition financing and last-mile completion funding in residential projects.